Rescue
by Dakota Kent
Summary: Melinda has been taken, and Jim is searching for her before it's too late. *Disclaimer:I don't own any part of Ghost Whisperer*
1. Chapter 1

**Set somewhere in the first or second season (since I just started watching the show and that's as far as I've gotten:)**

Jim Clancy worked his way slowly back down the dark hallway, avoiding the cobwebs and broken bits of furniture sitting useless and forgotten since who knows when. He had just searched every room down that hallway to no avail.

His wife was somewhere in this long-standing house, and he knew she needed his help. If able, she would, by now, have given a signal as to where she was. As it was, Jim was only aware Melinda was being held somewhere in this house because Willis Pike, her stalker of recent days, had been taken in for questioning on suspicion of kidnapping.

Once in custody, the lunatic had confessed everything. He had learned of Melinda's gift because she had tried to help his latest victim cross over. The victim who had been 'haunting' Willis Pike for some time until Melinda--seeing a ghost attached to the man--had innocently offered her help only to have the horrifying truth told to her by the tormented spirit. Having no physical evidence, the police were unable to make an arrest.

After that night, Pike began toying with them. Sending threatening and cryptic messages to Melinda; messages hinting at what he planned to do to her. Jim hoped none of those threats had come true.

Melinda had been taken by Pike, that was fact. Now he and most of the police department were searching this detestable old house for her while Pike was at the police station probably still laughing just as he had been the entire time he'd confessed to the kidnapping.

He was toying with them all; enjoying the game. But if he had lied about where he'd taken Melinda, led them on a wild goose chase….

Jim started making his way back to the staircase that would take him back to the first floor. On his way by, a door caught Jim's eye. He had passed it by earlier, assumed it was a linen closet, but something was telling him to open it now.

The door led up to an attic. Dark, with only one small window filtering in dirty light, and dusty--as all attics are. It looked as if it covered the expanse of the house.

Jim heard a scuffling in the corner. Too loud to be a mouse. Next came the whimpering. Jim moved through the shadows, pushed past deteriorating boxes and books strewn about the floor, and found Melinda curled up against the far wall, her hands tied behind her back.

"Melinda! Thank God."

At first, Melinda didn't recognize the sound of his voice. In the state she was in--confused and hallucinatory due to the drugs Pike had used to control her,--it was just another alien noise invading her muddled senses.

Melinda's eyes were open as Jim moved towards her. She tried to scream but nothing came out. A few tears managed to roll down her face as she tried to back away, sliding herself backwards across the wood floor using her legs, knocking into boxes and shelving.

Melinda rammed into something immovable and tried in futility to shrink away from her perceived attacker.

"Melinda, please, I have to get you out of here," Jim said in earnest. He attempted to cup her face in his hands, but Melinda struggled against the touch. "Mel, it's me. It's Jim. Look at me."

Melinda couldn't see through her tears or the shadows swirling about her, but she leaned towards the soothing voice now, eager to feel the faintly familiar touch once more.

Jim wrapped her in his arms, holding her close and brushing away her tears with his warm fingers.

Melinda huddled into his chest and, slowly, her trembling slowed.

"Jim," Melinda gasped, only now recognizing who was holding her. "S…so many…can't l…leave…."

Jim shook his head, half in confusion at her words, half in protest. "We have to go, Mel. You can't stay here, we need to get you to the hospital."

Melinda could feel the rumbling in his chest while he spoke and momentarily gave in to the warmth and safety he provided, but resisted again after he swiftly removed the ropes binding her hands.

"N…no, no, Jim," she intoned, Jim slipping an arm under her legs to carry her out. "Here…need help."

"I know, I'm gonna get you help, sweetheart."

_"How could he not understand?" _She thought_. _All of Pike's victims were here, in this attic, and they needed her help to cross over. She couldn't get the words out to make him understand_. _

Melinda clung to Jim's neck and tried again to get out the words.

"W…waiting…help. Help me…." She could only manage a weak whisper.

Jim looked down at her, his heart breaking at her feeble plea. Whatever that bastard had shot her full of had made her delusional. And scared. He swallowed back his emotions and continued down the creaky stairs. He didn't have time to soothe her or calm her fears, he needed to get her to a doctor.

Jim held Melinda closer. "Everything's okay, Mel. I'm here, you're safe now."

He thought about the fear he had felt when he'd found out she was gone, but couldn't imagine the fear Melinda had experienced. He tried not to think about what she'd been through, because if he did, he might lose it. The minor scrapes and scratches covering her face, neck, and arms hadn't escaped his attention.

Jim shifted Melinda in his arms when she burrowed further into him before going limp, giving into the protection she was craving.

"They're…everywhere…" she murmured over and over as they descended the stairway, her breath gliding across Jim's neck.

Jim reached the first floor and walked swiftly out the front door towards the ambulance he'd called along, ignoring the questions being thrown at him from the policemen who had been searching the rest of the house. They would have to wait. Making sure Melinda was alright came before everything.

She clung to Jim when he tried to set her down, her hair sticking to her tear streaked face.

Jim gazed into her eyes, his own softening with sympathy as he read the fear and pain in hers. He knelt down and let her hold onto him, his arms closing around her waist, as a fellow paramedic checked her over.

He had her now, she was going to be fine. He tried to forget every scenario he'd come up with while searching for her, but that might take some time. The nightmarish scenes in his mind were hard to banish.

Jim continued to whisper soothing words into Melinda's ear. Her eyes closed, lashes fluttering, she moved as close to him as she could, holding on to him as if he was the only thing that she trusted was real.

Hearing a faint whisper, Jim leaned down to hear what Melinda was saying.

"I…I love…you."

**I'd like to know what people think of this chapter before continue with the story. Please let me know!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Incoming!"

Melinda looked up from the mailbox just in time to see a snowball being launched at her. It fell just short of hitting her, landing instead at her feet.

"I meant to do that," Jim called from across the yard. All of Grandview had been transformed over night into a snow-sprinkled wonderland, and the freshly covered lawn had been too tempting for Jim to pass up.

While Jim was attempting to save face, Melinda--quick on the draw--had shaped her own massive snowball and let it fly. The frozen mass hit Jim square in the chest.

"I meant to do that," retorted Melinda with cheeky grin.

Melinda lifted an eyebrow as Jim--eyeing a hefty pile of ammo--slowly moved closer to where she stood in the yard. Melinda let out a squeak as Jim darted to the snow pile, scrambling to defend herself against the onslaught of slush and ice.

Slipping and sliding, hitting and missing, they soon found themselves soaked and shivering. They also found that--amidst their wintry war--they had traveled from their respective sides of the yard to within inches of each other.

Jim reached out and pulled Melinda into his arms. She looked beautiful with bright eyes and flushed cheeks. And that smile….

He leaned forward for a kiss, just to feel her smile against his lips, and just because he could.

"You're awfully energetic for having just gotten off work," commented Melinda. Usually the nightshift left her husband drained and ready for bed.

"I had coming home and being with you to look forward to," replied Jim, flashing a smile of his own.

Melinda reached up to give him a long, loving kiss. When they finally broke apart for air, Jim looked down at her and said "a few days ago I was afraid you might not ever come back home." He held her tighter. "I wouldn't say it out loud, or even admit it to myself, but…"

It was Melinda's turn to hold onto him more tightly. "I know," she murmured. "I was afraid, too. But," she stepped back to smile up at him reassuringly, "I'm here now, and it is getting close to a busy shopping season, so I should probably be getting back to work soon." She turned to go back into the house, hoping to slip the mention of work casually by Jim, but she only made it as far as the snow-covered porch railing before Jim eased her around to face him.

"If I recall correctly," he said, pretending to think hard, "we had a deal about work."

"Yes, I know, but I was still under the weather when I agreed to not go back to work for a week. It was a rash decision, I was still drained, still--"

All the while she was listing off reasons why the deal should be nullified, Jim was steadily inching her back into his arms, moving one hand after the other up her arm until his hands could rest on her shoulders. Melinda stopped listing to put her own arms around his neck, hiding from his sight the lump of snow she had removed from atop the railing.

"What about Delia? She--" Another kiss from Jim silenced her before she could continue.

"Delia assured you she is doing fine. Business is steady but not unmanageable. Plus, she recruited Ned to help out after school."

Melinda slouched, defeated.

"Is my company that bad?" Jim teased.

"Don't even say that." She used one hand to slap him on the shoulder. The other was still holding a slowly melting clump of snow. "You know you're the best."

"Well, I _have_ heard that somewhere before," he bragged, adopting a smug expression.

"Right," said Melinda, rolling her eyes. "Just so you don't get _too_ full of yourself…"

"What?" Jim suddenly didn't trust the gleam in her eye. And with good reason.

Melinda swiftly reached up behind him, pulled back the collar of his shirt, dumped her handful of patiently waiting snow, and rushed into the house before Jim could react.

She heard his cry of surprise when she was at the bottom of the staircase that lead up to their bedroom on the second floor of their house, and soon found herself being pursued by a husband intent on payback.

* * *

That night during dinner, Melinda decided to bring up the subject of returning to the house where Jim had found her after the kidnapping. She knew it would be a sensitive subject, but she still had the business of crossing over all of Pike's victims to settle.

"I don't like that house, Melinda. I don't like the thought of you going back in there."

She was expecting this reply.

"I know you don't, and it's not my favorite place either, but I need to go back there and cross over all of those earthbound spirits. Pike is behind bars, he's no longer a threat to me or to anyone, and I think those spirits deserve to know that. Maybe that's all they need to hear in order to cross over; maybe they were waiting for the man who murdered them to be brought to justice."

Melinda said this with such sincerity and passion that Jim found it hard to say no. He also didn't want to be the one to prevent those ghosts from finding peace, but only if Melinda was safe. Even with Pike behind bars, that house, the bad memories it held for him, made his skin crawl just thinking of going back.

"Alright," he sighed, "but wait until I can come with you. Humor me, okay," he said when she gave him a look. "It'll give me peace of mind."

"Deal." Having Jim by her side would probably ease her own fears. "I was thinking I'd go tomorrow afternoon. Will that work for you?"

"Sure, I've got tomorrow off."

The kitchen was suddenly quiet while its two occupants contemplated what tomorrow held. Jim was the first to break the silence.

"Hey," he said softly, noticing Melinda's furrowed brow. "You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just--thank you. For understanding."

"Of course. Anything for you."

Melinda smiled as the tension eased.

"I love you," she said with a smile.

"I love you, too. How about we dish out some ice cream and pop in a movie?"

"I'll get the spoons."


	3. Chapter 3

Around two in the afternoon the next day, Melinda, and a still slightly reluctant Jim, drove the three miles out of town to the abandoned house where Pike had taken Melinda. A shiver ran down Melinda's spine upon stepping out of the car and seeing the house again. She looked over at Jim and gave him a nod. Together they walked through the front door.

When Jim closed the door behind them, a wave of nausea swept over Melinda, causing her to sway.

"Whoa, stay with me, Mel." Jim moved around to face Melinda, gripping her arms to steady her. "Hey, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I feel really dizzy. Like I did when I was drugged."

Jim tilted her chin up to look into her eyes, but her gaze slid from his face to a point behind him.

"They're here. Seven of them. This feeling is coming from them."

Jim turned his head to look, but saw nothing. Not that he had expected to.

Melinda was quiet for a moment, listening.

"These spirits are all female. They're all the women Pike abducted; all from different towns. He never stayed in one place for long." She shifted her gaze back to Jim. "The police caught him before he could come back and kill me." Jim's jaw clenched in anger at the thought.

Melinda again focused on what Jim couldn't see. "They attached themselves to Pike, doing what they could to stop him, waiting for him to be stopped."

Something clicked for Jim. "Pike was pulled over for a broken taillight. The officer thought he recognized him from the wanted bulletins and took him in just in case. Was that…?"

Melinda nodded. "They sabotaged his truck. It was all they could manage. He drugged all of them and they were so disoriented when they died. They're energy can't intensify the way it does for most spirits because of the condition in which they died."

Melinda took a few wobbly steps towards the small group, holding on to Jim's arm for balance.

"It's over now. Pike is behind bars. He can no longer hurt anyone. You all helped capture him."

She smiled sadly at Jim. "They wish they could have stopped him sooner.

"So do I," he whispered. Then, to the empty room he said, "But you did all you could and probably saved the lives of many other women Pike would've victimized. And you saved my wife. I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am."

Melinda smiled up at him before turning back to the group.

"Do you see the light?" Melinda knew the answer before she asked. They were all looking towards the window. Towards freedom and peace.

"They're ready to cross over," she told Jim.

Jim followed Melinda's gaze, but all he saw were the curtains ruffling in a breeze originating from within the house.

**One more (probably short) chapter to finish-up. Couldn't think of anything to write at the moment so I'll have to do it later:)**


	4. Chapter 4

"Home at last," sighed Jim, dropping onto the couch beside Melinda. "Which movie did you choose?"

"The gooiest, sappiest romantic comedy I could find." She laughed when he rolled his eyes.

"No horror movie? I'm shocked."

"Ugh, I've had enough horror the past few days to last me a while."

Jim wrapped an arm around Melinda and she snuggled into his side.

"A romantic comedy sounds fine to me," he said before kissing her temple.

Judging by the way her eyelids were already fighting to stay open, Jim knew Melinda would be asleep before they got very far into the movie. He could always turn the channel once she was out.

Nah, who was he kidding? Jim knew he'd be watching his wife sleep peacefully before giving in to sleep himself.

Jim gave Melinda another kiss before settling into the couch.

"I love you, babe."

"Love you, too," whispered Melinda, her eyes already closed.


End file.
